Archive

Open House | Kinyras: The Divine Lyre, with John C. Franklin

We were pleased to welcome John C. Franklin who joined us for an Open House discussion on “Kinyras: The Divine Lyre” on Thursday, September 15 2016. Kinyras was a mythical priest-king of pre-Greek Cyprus, and John C. Franklin’s research draws on Greco-Roman material and Near Eastern evidence for the divinization of temple lyres, and seeks to illustrate the cultural interactions in the eastern Mediterranean. To prepare for this event, you… Read more

Homeric Ithaca

A guest post by David Long ….The deep-sea-going ship Made landfall on the island … Ithaca at last. There on the coast a haven lies, named for Phorcys, The old god of the deep – with two jutting headlands, Sheared off at the seaward side but shelving towards the bay. Odyssey 13.95–98 (Fagles translation) Atheras Bay (Phorcys Bay) from Atheras Atheras beach This is Atheras Bay, up in the northwestern… Read more

Open House | Sappho 44, with Gregory Nagy

We were pleased to welcome back Gregory Nagy of Harvard University for an Online Open House discussion about Sappho Song 44 and about his postings on Classical Inquiries. The process of remembering in ancient Greek song culture requires a special medium, song. When I say song here, I include poetry, even though the word poetry in modern usage is understood to be different from song. In the ancient Greek song culture, however, both poetry and song are understood to… Read more

Pottery and artefacts

Fragment of a marble statue (Early 400 BCE) The pictures in this Gallery were taken in Athens, at the Museum of Cycladic Art. The Museum specializes in the Cultures of the Aegean and Cyprus. For a better understanding, the different periods are listed underneath. You may find the information at the Museum internet site. Cycladic Period 3200–2000BCE Early Bronze Age 2500–1900 BCE Early Cypriot Ι   2500–2075 BCE Early Cypriot ΙΙ… Read more

Core Vocab: phrēn, phrenes

This month’s Core Vocab word is phrēn, plural phrenes, [φρήν, φρένες] which is given the definition ‘physical localization of the thūmos‘.[1] As a reminder, the definition of thūmos is ‘heart, spirit’ (designates realm of consciousness, of rational and emotional functions); we have already looked at some passages relating to thūmos: you can find the post here. In modern English we refer to the mind as residing in the brain, and emotion is… Read more